Bossi, Franck, Howells: Robert Costin (organ), Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York, 6.4.2008 (BH)

Bossi: Entrée Pontificale (1886-90)
Franck: Cantabile (1878)
Howells: Partita (1971)


The enormous vaults of New York's Saint Thomas Church were a fine match for Marco Enrico Bossi's grandly ceremonial Entrée Pontificale, which began Robert Costin's finely conceived half-hour recital. Bossi (1861-1925), son of an Italian organist, wrote operas, orchestral music and oratorios as well as organ works, but most are largely unperformed today. (This is the first time I can recall hearing anything by him.) This broadly phrased, triumphant few minutes showed Costin in immediate command of the Saint Thomas instrument, adding some thrilling textures in the thunderous conclusion.

Quite different was César Franck's Cantabile, a delicate, even winsome episode scarcely three minutes long.  Costin used a reedy timbre to highlight the plaintive melody, which unfolds with quiet dignity.  But the prize of the afternoon went to Herbert Howells' Partita, which Costin said is rarely performed. (I feel another rant coming on, about neglected works that should be played more often.)  In five sections, it begins with a clamorous "Intrata" with some arresting chord progressions, ending with a low, ominous flourish.  The quiet "Interlude" that follows has a chantlike opening, leading to a striking ending in the high register over a rock-bottom low pedal, both pianissimo.  The frenzied "Scherzo" (well, "frenzy" of the Howells kind) eventually dissolves into a calm introspective "Epilogue," ending with a quiet, ruminative final page or so. 

The fourth movement is titled "Sarabande for the 12th day of any October," a nod to the birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams, whom Howells apparently revered enough to feel that he should be remembered. It is a gentle homage, questioning and sober, that often evokes the great composer's enigmatic style. The tense "Finale and Retrospect" has phrases that erupt like shafts of sunlight, dimming to whispers before the fortissimo ending.  Costin's intensity in the final pages was absolutely breathtaking.

Bruce Hodges

About Seen and Heard Reviewer Robert Costin:

Robert Costin studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Cambridge University, where he was Organ Scholar of Pembroke College. His organ teachers included Nicholas Danby and David Sanger. He moved to New Zealand in 1993, holding organist posts at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland, before returning to the UK as Assistant Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral. He is presently Director of Music at Ardingly College, West Sussex, having previously held posts at Bedford School and Worksop College. As an organist he has performed at many prestigious venues in the UK, Europe, Africa, North America and Australia, and as a choir director he has conducted in St Peter’s Basilica, Rome and Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. He has released a number of acclaimed solo recordings in recent years, and the International Record Review wrote of his disc of Herbert Howells’ organ music: “few CDs approach the excellence of performance of this issue...It is first-class in every respect, from the choice of repertoire to the depth of understanding given to this music by Robert Costin.”

About the organ at Saint Thomas Church (from the church website):

The Great Organ of Saint Thomas Church was built in 1913 by the Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company of Boston and installed when the present building was first used for services that year. It was extensively revised and rebuilt in 1956 by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, also of Boston, under the personal direction of G. Donald Harrison. Further revision of the instrument was completed in the late sixties by Gilbert Adams of New York, and in the early eighties by Mann and Trupiano of Brooklyn.

The current organ includes tonal designs which are characteristic of the organs of Bach’s time. In addition, it is especially notable for its French Romantic colors. Consisting of six divisions, the instrument features a Trompette-en-Chamade under the rose window over the Fifth Avenue entrance. There are four manuals, 138 ranks, and some 9050 pipes. The organ console is hidden from view at the left of the Chancel.


Back to Top                                                    Cumulative Index Page